Olmert: I took American's money, but it was no bribe

Israeli prime minister speaks as gag loosens

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday admitted receiving regular contributions for years from a Jewish American businessman but denied any of the money constituted a bribe.

His statement came after an Israeli court partly lifted a nearly week-old gag order blocking the country's media from revealing details of the case. They immediately reported that prosecutors were investigating whether Olmert received tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from millionaire Morris Talansky of Long Island, N.Y.

"I look each and every one of you in the eye and say I have never received a bribe and I have never taken a penny for my own pocket," Olmert said at a brief news conference.

He vowed to resign if formally indicted by Atty. Gen. Menachem Mazuz.

The investigation covers matters that date to Olmert's tenures as mayor of Jerusalem and minister of industry.

The prime minister was interrogated last week by investigators. That event, followed by the gag order issued by the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court, placed the normally raucous Israeli media in the strange position of analyzing the implications of accusations they couldn't specify.

The gag order began to weaken Tuesday when the New York Post identified the businessman involved in the alleged bribery as Talansky, who served as treasurer of Olmert's non-profit New Jerusalem Foundation. The story let local Israeli media outlets evade the gag order by reporting on the Post's report.

With the order now partly lifted by the same court that imposed it, the scandal seems destined to loom over President George W. Bush's visit next week to Israel to help commemorate its 60th anniversary, which Israelis marked Thursday.

Olmert has been implicated in other corruption scandals but has never been formally charged.

Talansky, a frequent visitor to Israel who is in the country on vacation, told Israel's Channel 2 the charges are "totally baffling to me. It's Independence Day, and I don't think there should be any talk about politics."